October 19, 2008

We've been here before, kiddies. Who can forget two years ago when Rep. Tim Murphy (R, PA-18) snatched away evidence from a KDKA reporter on camera that showed that his congressional staff was engaging in campaign activities and using taxpayer money to do so?

Just in case you missed it, here it is in all its gory glory:

Well, now the O'Donnell campaign says that Murphy is up to his old tricks. From a press release distributed on Friday:

At the Bethel Park Parade and Community Day on September 13th, 2008, Congressman Murphy used the event for both official and campaign purposes. This is a clear violation of House Ethics Rules, and by definition an illegal activity.

According to House ethics rules (page 178 – click on this link), Members of Congress must designate their public appearances as either official or political – but not both. The rule is intended to prevent Members from using taxpayer money to further campaign objectives. The exact text of the relevant statute in the House Ethics Manual can be found below.

At the Bethel Park event, Murphy set up a Congressional tent decorated with the Congressional seal and manned by one of his Congressional staff.

Meanwhile, Murphy marched in the parade, handing out campaign paraphernalia, like “Murphy for Congress” nail files. He was also accompanied by campaign staff. An official-looking black sedan marked with the words “Congressman Tim Murphy” followed closely behind. The sign on the car was ambiguous – it made direct reference to Murphy’s title, but it didn’t contain either the Congressional seal or Murphy’s campaign logo. However, one of the passengers in the car was wearing a “Murphy for Congress” campaign sticker.

Less than twenty minutes later, Murphy appeared at his Congressional tent – which, was located adjacent to the tent of the Bethel Park Republican Committee. As he spoke with party members, he was wearing a blue windbreaker with an official seal with the words “Congressman Tim Murphy.” When one of Murphy’s campaign staffers, who had been standing adjacent to the Congressional tent, saw that Murphy was being photographed, he charged across the street and physically confronted the photographer.

You can see the full press release here and it's chock full of photographs.

For O'Connell, this is too little too late. He and his campaign should have been banging the drum over Murphy months ago. And while this seems like a violation, it's not something to really motivate voters who are fearing for their financial lives.

If O'Donnell wants an issue, he should look at Murphy's voting record on that and he should get out and knock on every door in his district. (he may be doing this...)

Also, if it were me, I would have produced a DVD of that "snatch" Timbo did on-camera and drop it off while canvassing. Murphy is an arrogant dim bulb and he needs to have the same sort of Election Night that Melissa Hart did two years ago...

John K: Okay forget acorn. How about if Rep. Murphy had yelled throughout the parade that everyone is a racist, ala Murtha, who doesn't vote for Hussein Obama? Would you left wing kooks accept that? LMAO

John K: Hey Clyde, I would probably not be upset with acorn if they also registered Republicans or third parties. But since they take govt money and only register Democrats, like Jive Turkey and Lola Palooza, I should be upset.

First, John K., ACORN doesn't register only Democrats. A person is free to select whatever party they belong to when they fill out a registration form.

Now, what you're talking about sounds a lot like what some Republican, with a long history of fraud, was just arrested for out in California. It seems he WAS changing people's registration forms and registering them as Republicans without their consent.

Secondly, THERE HAS BEEN NO VOTER FRAUD COMMITTED.

Have we found bogus registration forms? Yes.

And who was the organization that first brought these bogus registration to the attention of secretaries of state across the country? ACORN.

And what percentage of total new registrations do these bogus forms account for? About 1%.

But it seems you need a lesson in how the world works, because you have clearly decided to push the GOP's bogus claims of voter fraud committed on by ACORN.

So, to set the record straigth, ACORN hires people to register voters. They made a mistake by paying according to the number of voters a person registers; as news organizations have started to note, it's actually ACORN that's been the victim of fraud as some of these people hired out to register voters submitted bogus registration forms.

What does a bogus registration form mean?

Not much and here's why: Let's say you fill out a registration form using your proper address but the name "Mickey Mouse."

Will Mickey Mouse be able to vote on Election Day? No, because Mickey Mouse would never have been issued a registration card because a) it's a fictional name and b) the local elections office would have no record of a Mickey Mouse living at your address, rendering the registration form invalid.

What if you used a fake address? Well, then there are two reasons why the registration wouldn't be certified.

Let's take an example popular with Republicans: the starting line-up of the Dallas Cowboys registered to vote in Nevada.

It's exactly the same as Mickey Mouse. When the local elections office receives a form for Tony Romo, the registration wouldn't be certified unless Tony Romo actually lived in Nevada. If the person used a bogus address, the registration would be invalid. If the person used an existing address, the registration would still be invalid because there would be no record of a Tony Romo living at that address.

If you, John K., had filled out 10 different registration forms you would not be able to vote 10 times. The registrations would be either discarded as duplicates or discarded due to information that is not verifiable( fake address, fake name, etc.).

John K: See how stupid you can be Clyde. As I previously posted in here, I am a registered Democrat. Operation Chaos. Too lazy to change it. But when approached by Acorn a month ago on the street to register I said sure. Problem was the form acorn handed me was already marked for the Democratic party. When I said I wanted to change it to Republican they snatched it back and told me they couldn't do that. LMAO LMAO Wonder why? When acorn gets its act together and acts like a community organization that considers all members of the community, they do take govt money, then you will have some credibility. Until then let me mock you like this, lol lol lol, because you deserve to be mocked. LMAO

John K: And as for Jaywillie and his statement there has been no voter fraud committed, because we haven't voted yet you loon. Sheesh. But acorn has every attempt to commit voter fraud. They did in Ohio in 2004 and will do so again. Shame liberals have to win elections by stealing them.

Well, John K., according to a newspaper, what happened in Seattle was voter registration fraud, and ACORN wasn't to blame, rather the people they hired as temps. ACORN paid for the investigation and promised to clean up their act. This year they have looked at the registration forms themselves, they have called the names on the registration forms and flagged ones where they couldn't get an answer or which looked suspicious. They have gone to all that trouble only to be vilified by conservatives.

You tried to register a second time? You are going to commit voter fraud?

Actually, I have read conservative blog commenters say that all registration forms submitted by ACORN should be thrown out. You guys are actually anti-democracy. It's like you want to install a dictatorship in America. Why do you hate America, John K.?

No, John K., I said someone else said they weren't to blame. A newspaper from Seattle. Do not say anything about me if you can't get it right.

You didn't answer about how you tried to commit voter registration fraud.

I assume that Joseph Smith must have been back at least last year, since, as you have pointed out, we haven't voted yet. I searched Fox News's website and there was no mention of Joseph Smith. How long ago was this "voter fraud"?